The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal is a peer-reviewed journal published semi-annually at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, and welcomes scholarly submissions from all disciplines. Submission requirements: Submissions should be less than forty pages and sent in electronic form, on a Compact Disc or via email, in Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. All maps, charts, and graphs must be camera ready. Each article should be accompanied by an Abstract and have an Introduction. Documentation format should follow a style appropriate to the discipline: MLA for humanities and APA for social and behavioral sciences. Please include a removable cover page giving the institutional affiliations, positions, and highest degrees earned of all authors, as well as a return address and the article title; the article itself must carry only the title. Papers will be read by a minimum of two reviewers before a publication decision is made. Reviewers’ comments and suggestions for revisions will be relayed to the author in a timely manner. Mail submissions to: Patsy J. Daniels, Editor, The Researcher, Box 17929, Jackson State University, 1400 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, MS 39217, or send as attachment via email to: <[email protected]>. For subscriptions, contact the Editor at 601-979-1480. The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal Spring 2010 Volume 23, Number 1 Editor Patsy J. Daniels, Ph.D. Editorial Advisory Board Chair: Felix A. Okojie, Ed.D., M.P.H., C.R.A., Jackson State University Obie Clayton, Ph.D., Morehouse College Jason J. Hartford, Ph.D., University of Exeter, United Kingdom Shawn P. Holliday, Ph.D., Northwest Oklahoma State University James Kaler, Ph.D., University of Illinois J. Jeannette Lovern, Ph.D., Eastern Kentucky University Anna Madison, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston Karen L. McCullough, Ph.D., California University of Pennsylvania Jim McMurtray, National Alliance of State Science and Mathematics Coalitions,Washington, D.C. Elizabeth S. Overman, Ph.D., University of Central Oklahoma Lou Helen Sanders, Ph.D., Jackson State University A Publication of Jackson State University under the auspices of the Faculty Research and Publications Committee Disclaimer: Articles in The Researcher represent the views of neither the journal and its officers nor of the Faculty Research Committee. Responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in The Researcher rests solely with the individual authors. The Editor is responsible for the selection of the contents of the journal and reserves the right to reject manuscripts deemed unfit for publication. ©2011 All Rights Reserved U.S. ISSN: 0271-5058 No part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, or through any information storage and retrieval system without the publisher’s written permission. The authors, however, may republish their work in total or in part with written permission from the Editor. Table of Contents Spring 2010 Volume 23, Number 1 O r i g i n a l A r t i c l e s Public Attitudes Toward Crime and Incarceration in Finland. .1 Ikponwosa Ekunwe Ph.D. Richard S. Jones Ph.D. Kaley Mullin Cell Phone Use While Driving: What Do We Know About HBCU Students? . 22 Melvin Davis, Ph.D. Nanetta Payne, Ph.D, Sam Mozee, M.P.P.A. Tontel Obene, D.P.H A Blow-Up Doll on Campus: Invoking Marina Abramović’s Rhythm 0 to Investigate Female Objectification . 33 Pamela B. June, Ph.D. Globalization and the Nigerian Economy in the 21st Century: The Unanswered Questions. 51 Moses T. Aluaigba, M. Sc. ____________________________________ C a l l s f o r P a p e r s The Researcher, Fall 2010 . 83 The Researcher, Spring 2011. .84 The Researcher, Reviewers. 85 Mississippi Philological Association, February 2011. 86 Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Ctr, .April 2011. .87 PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD CRIME AND INCARCERATION IN FINLAND by Ikponwosa Ekunwe, Ph.D., 1 Richard S. Jones, Ph.D.,2 and Kaley Mullin3 ABSTRACT The following paper provides insights into Finland’s criminal justice system and discusses the policies that emphasize using prison for rehabilitation, not merely for punishment. These methods of prevention and rehabilitation, in conjunction with correctional and educational staff within and outside the prison walls, have contributed to consistently low recidivism rates in Finland. This study discusses many ideological similarities between public opinions towards criminals and crime in Finland and the United States. Like Americans, Finns are intolerant of crime and violence, yet open to the idea of alternative forms of punishment, especially for non-violent and juvenile offenders. People in both countries tend to believe criminals are not born into a criminal life and that societal factors play a role in creating criminal behavior. This study sheds light on both the public support for ex-offenders’ rehabilitation in Finland and the extent to which Americans support alternative forms of punishment. It also provides a narrative of the disconnect between public opinion and what public officials think public opinion is. Introduction The Finnish public attitude towards crime can be classified as civil in the sense that the society leans towards rehabilitating offenders. In most countries around the world, it is thought that crime control by imprisonment can keep society safe by increasing the certainty of punishment, increasing the 1 Ikponwosa Ekunwe is an Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Tampere, Finland. 2 Richard S. Jones is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 3 Kaley Mullin is an undergraduate sociology major at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 1 severity of punishment, or both. But in Finland, the contrary is the case. Finnish penal policy is based on gentle justice, as indicated in the speech delivered by the president of the Republic of Finland at the opening of the annual session of parliament on April 2, 2000: . We need to ask whether these people are receiving the help and treatment they need or if the problems are being neglected because society cannot agree on who will pay the bill. However, tackling the drug problem would be an effective means of getting young people to abandon a career of crime in its very early stage. It would also often be the fastest way of reducing the number of repeat offenders--not to speak of the other savings that could be achieved through treatment and rehabilitation . .4 The above extract explains the length Finland will go to in trying to rehabilitate malefactors in order to facilitate their return into society upon their release as reformed citizens. Although sentencing criminals to prison often seems to be the easiest solution, Finland has decided to rehabilitate convicts instead, regardless of the perceived difficulties that may ensue. A cross-sectional analysis of American attitudes towards crime has also indicated that the historically punitive views of Americans are gradually shifting to a more progressive view. This stance should encourage American policymakers, as was the case of their counterparts in Finland, to support legislation that uses alternative forms of punishment to rehabilitate offenders and help them become functional members of society. However, the research conducted by Roberts and Hough (2002) concluded that the American public is being misread by policymakers who fail to recognize that public opinion is shifting and are continuing to push an out- dated agenda. This failure has presented a problem for both offenders and society. Historically, rehabilitation has been viewed as the main goal of correction in the United States just as it was in Finland. However, beginning in the mid-1970s, the main goal of corrections in the United States shifted away from rehabilitation to a more punitive attitude. At this time, both political parties in America began to oppose rehabilitation for different reasons. Liberals found rehabilitation to be too arbitrary in the amount of discretion it gave to judges and 4 At <www.valtioneuvosto.fi/tpk/puheet-1999/P000204.vpen.html >. 2 correctional officials to decide the fate of offenders. Conservatives found rehabilitation to be too lenient and too easy on offenders. They thought rehabilitation served to further victimize citizens rather than to provide restitution (Cullen et al. 2002). The shift from progressive to punitive was reflected by opinion polls which showed that, in 1968, 73 percent of the respondents said rehabilitation was the goal of prisons. That number declined to 44 percent in 1982, and to 33 percent in 1995 (Cullen et al. 2002). Understanding the Finnish Psyche on Punishment On any given day, there are about 2,800 prisoners in Finnish prisons. Out of these, there are 100 incarcerated young offenders between the ages of 18 and 21 and just eight young offenders aged 15 to 17 behind bars. The decline in the use of incarceration represents only half of Finland's experiment in criminal justice policy. The other transformation occurred inside the country’s prisons. With the justice revolution launched in the late 1960s, the idea that tough prisons deterred crime was discarded. According to Esko Aaltonen, Director of Hameenlinna Prison Finland, “the main purpose of prisons in Finland is to try to solve the biggest problems in the lives of prisoners. The Finns try to take care of those problems to increase the chance that prisoners will live a life without crime after they are released.” A study of public attitudes towards crime in five major cities in Finland (Ekunwe 2007) showed that 80 percent of respondents believe that criminals should be rehabilitated and given a second chance.